Popular Post Vintage Grumble Posted January 9, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 9, 2021 Now that the motor runs beautifully, let's replace it! Got this bad boy, its near on 800cc, makes 110hp, and best of all, NO CARBS! It's from a 2005 Seadoo 3D, and goez hrd 4 wat it iz. 8 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Vintage Grumble Posted January 9, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 9, 2021 Nah I'm just screwing with ya, I completely lost my mind and purchased another boat, An equatence of mine built this 4ish years ago, and about a year ago he mentioned he may sell it, I expressed interest. Then like the week after I got the red boat, he told me he was definitely going to sell it, so for the last couple of months I've been pestering him, and finally sealed the deal a few days ago. It's a 3m wattscraft hull, UHMWPE lined, grunty stainless intake grill, has nozzle trim, and has had reverse fitted too. It's pretty much exactly what I want, for the river exploration I want to do. Its all perfectly usable as is, but theres a few things I will change, and a few things to do to finish it off nicely. River adventures are not far away now! 25 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzstato Posted January 9, 2021 Share Posted January 9, 2021 Well played sir.... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post keltik Posted January 17, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted January 17, 2021 Action shot. 9 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vintage Grumble Posted January 17, 2021 Author Share Posted January 17, 2021 I'm pretty excited to see the video of Dave loosing his earmuffs. And gosh darn, what a hell of trip that was, AAA+++ will definitely trade again. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Vintage Grumble Posted January 17, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 17, 2021 So in the last week, I started tidying up a few things, first was the trailers rims. It had three different rims, and two different sizes of tyres, so I purchased two new rims, and used the best OG rim and odd tyre as the spare. OCD appeased. Then I re-routed the accelerator cable to the finger throttle on the steering wheel, as the cable was in a dick of a place. I also changed the placement of the steering connection, to get more throw and easier steering, as it was super heavy and only went like 15 deg each way from center before. Interior shot, (I plan to do away with the little corner dash bit, and just mount the one gauge and switches in the dash bit the steering column comes through.) The steering mod made it way better to pilot, but as I discovered today, it can over center to the left, and start going right again. This caused a couple of small incidents today, so I will have to fix this. I also completely lost steering today while blasting between some logs/stumps (which was quite exciting) because a bolt had come loose on the end of the column, an easy fix, but I need to go around and loctite a few things for safety. Random pics (only two I took) from today, The big issue with this boat, is it porpoises like a mad cunt, even with the trim hard down, and my 80kg bro in law on the bonnet. I think the jet unit or outlet needs to be aimed down or something? Trim tabs seemed like an idea, but are probably no good for gravel/rock bashing. But yeh, apart from those few issues, I had an absolute friggen blast today, this jet boating malarkey is a hell of a lot of fun! That'll do for now, Love, VG. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vintage Grumble Posted January 19, 2021 Author Share Posted January 19, 2021 Ok so I've got a bit of a boat boner at the moment. Had a bit of time, so fitted a spring washer and loctite to the bolt that came loose on the steering. I also put a hose clip (will replace with a rope grip) on the steering push rod doofer, so it can't over center. I then got carried away and removed the corner dash bit, and fitted the switches and display to the lower dash, it looks a billion times better IMO. I'll get some flat bar that goes right across the dash welded in, and then put marine carpet behind it. The other night I started looking at the porpoising situation. The ride plate is about 4 deg up from parallel to the bottom of the boat, which seems wrong. It's also now touching the trim nozzle before it gets to the bottom of it's travel, so I've pushed it up a bit in the last outing, but not much. Unfortunately it's not adjustable, it's welded in, and i think the bent tube is bending. For testing purposes ima cut the tubes, bend the plate down, and ram something in the gap. I'll make a whole new set up if it fixes the problem. I was thinking about wedging the unit down to help, but noticed it has a wedged plate on it already (bolted to the adapter) it's roughly 12mm thick at the top, and 8mm at the bottom. Bonus Sharns: This thing puts the idle up if you input steering, so it actually steers at idle. I'll look into doing away with it at some point. The ECU also runs the bilge pump occasionally, to stop your jet ski sinking, also sort of pointless in this, as it's got a big dog auto/manual pump, so will also remove that at some point. It's also not connected to a hose at the moment, lols. I'll just have to work out how to keep the ECU happy when removing them. Regards, VG. P.s. if anyone knows anything about unit and ride plate angles, please school me. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vintage Grumble Posted January 22, 2021 Author Share Posted January 22, 2021 Talked to the old owner the other day, he had problems with porpoising when he originally built the boat, took him ages to work out, but it was the nozzle being forced up by the jet blast, because the trim cables outer sheath was moving (due to not having the correct clips, it now has the proper morse clips). So I checked this, but its solid as a rock. So I've cut the ride plate supports, jammed 12mm of flat in there, and it's now basically level with the bottom of the boat, and the trim nozzle can go alllllllll the way down. I'll find out on Sunday what effect this has had. It will start bow steering if too much, which is also bad. Once I find the sweet spot, I'll make a new plate and supports, and I'll make them GRUNTY AS FUCK. Bonus Sharns: Weirdly, this boat has not only electrically actuated trim, but also reverse! I'll probably go to manual levers for both at some point, as being able to go in and out of reverse quickly is very handy, and currently there's no indication of where the trim nozzle is at. Regards, VG. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vintage Grumble Posted January 25, 2021 Author Share Posted January 25, 2021 So had a bash at J5s private wet spot on Sunday, and the porpoising was nowhere to be seen, which made boating much more pleasant, and VG very happy. BUT on the last run of the day the porpoise returned, turns out the actuator end of the trim cable is only held in place with a hose clip, and had moved (I thought the last owner was talking about the unit end, DUURRRRRR) so i've ordered the correct morse cable retainer to secure this. I'm now trying to decide if I bother making the ride plate any wider or longer, or just put new gruntier supports on the current one? A longer one would protect the unit better, but would also get more of a hammering when running over shit. Hmmmmmmmmm. And seeing as a boring update is even more boring with no pics, a pic of the manual reverse/trim lever I hope to get, I just need them to make it backwards (my boats RHD) and for a 30 series cable on the reverse rather than the 40 they use. SO PRETTY. Oh, also I was way too excited about getting this doofer, a cam cleat, to hold the bow rope, no more tying it to the hand rail! Regards, VG. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Vintage Grumble Posted February 6, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 6, 2021 I did some more boring stuff, Put a chunk of 50x6 ali angle under the dash to stop the over centering, it's IMPOSSIBLE for it to happen now. Then I got the shits with the foam tape sealing the engine cover, as it would move around and get sticky goop all over the place. I removed the tape, and cut out a slab of the EVA foam that came with the boat, and glued it to the underside of the lid, this now stops a bit of sound and vibration coming out, AND seals the lid. Fuck I'm clever. Next I made a plate to seal up a big ass hole the last owner cut in the seat/firewall (for engine/oil filter access) I sealed the lid with foam, and then put a chunk of EVA foam along the back of the seat to seal the engine bay. The other thang I done, was put a propa morse clip on the trim cable (hose clip failed last outing) This was a total bastard, due to space/location/tool access, but I got it in there. The mounting point wasn't wide enough, so one bolt is just clamping a big ass washer. This will do until I go to manual levers, which I have ordered, and will fit in the depths of winter I guess. Bloody rippa. Regards, VG. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vintage Grumble Posted March 3, 2021 Author Share Posted March 3, 2021 The SSS reverse/trim lever showed up the other day, and by golly it's a sexual piece of gear. I'm well impressed with the design and build quality, glad I didn't try make one TBH, Strange thing to be boned up over I know, but hey. 8 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vintage Grumble Posted March 7, 2021 Author Share Posted March 7, 2021 Went up the WHK, wasn't a lot of water, it was neat. (Phone vid from inside waterproof case, so looks a bit weird) Also, turns out you need more than 20mm of water to boat. New high score on grate rocks too. Very keen to go waaaaay further up this bugger one day. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post keltik Posted March 7, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted March 7, 2021 The noise was hilarious, 2 stroke lawnmower followed by a car bonnet being dragged down the road. 8 1 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Vintage Grumble Posted April 18, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted April 18, 2021 Another great days boating with @johnnyfive and @keltik. We did the Waimana and upper Whakatane river, and had a go at this little stream, Was surprised I made it that far tbh. Did a little bit of damage to the boat, but nothing major. Keltiks vid of the incident, It was quite a ride. All in all a good hoon, would hoon again, A++. 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumrum Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 I'm in love, also I put it on 2x speed playback and fark you were hauling ass haha 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vintage Grumble Posted April 24, 2021 Author Share Posted April 24, 2021 Ol mate of mine is down from Aucks, and was keen to go for a bash (which we did, unfortunately) so we did the dam to dam run again (Matahina to Aniwhenua) all went well on the way up, apart from bad porpoising again, due to ride plate being bent up from rock bashing the last few outings. On the way back my steering failed again, praise allah it was just after the gnarly rapids/pressure waves, but was about as far away from the car as possible. The dude that built it, had used a 3mm bit of ali angle to hold the end of the steering cable under that dash, and it sheered off. I managed to loosen the remaining bit of angle, and wedge the edge of the bit connected to the cable under it, then do it up. I added a cable tie to try stop it popping out. Amazing it lasted the trip home, but it was a bit nerve racking driving back thinking it could fail at any moment. We hit a few things as I was scared to do sharp steering movements, or go too fast, but we made it back. We hit a few things we shouldn't have hit, and I made a few poor piloting decisions, which has led to some hard hits, and some of the worst welds letting go, I've also torn the UHMWPE by the intake, which is a bit of a pisser, not sure how I'll fix this yet, Also, this bit protects the bow/keel/join in the UHMWPE (I dunno boat bit names) and I made a mess of it last weekend (ref: above video) So I have lots of things to fix/upgrade/rearrange/maintain now, so might take it off the road/river for winter and get to fixin! Regards, V "fuck that's a big rock" G. 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Vintage Grumble Posted October 2, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 2, 2021 OK, so the over winter refresh didn't happen, due to too busy and new shed still not being built,but I did remedy a few things. Firstly I took off the rooted bash plate, cut off the destroyed bottom end, then bashed it to shape, and redrilled new holes, so the bit that was way up the front, is now in the danger zone. Next I fixed the rip in the UHMWPE. I heated it with a gas torch, beat the shit out of it, tucked the edge of the rip under the bit in front of it, added a few more bolts, then ground it flat. I also trimmed the UHMWPE a bit, as it was slightly covering the edges of the intake. Next I made a new steering cable mount. Out with the 50x3 full of holes abortion, and in with a solid 50x6 hunk of beef. I also added and extra bolt, offset the hole for clearance, and made the cable mounting hole the correct size. (New one not finished in pic) Then I decided I wanted full throttle. It could only get about 80/90% due to lever hitting steering wheel. I modified the piss out of the lever, so it was out further when closed, giving a longer throw, allowing full movement of the throttle body. But then it fouled on the dash (was hitting before it was modified) so I shortened the lever, and made a 25mm steering wheel spacer out of nylon. (I painted the lever and made a cable holder after pics were taken) Next I changed the hitch to a 50mm, and put a new jockey wheel on, as the old one was a faggot. BUT then the windy handle fouled on the upright the winch is on. So I moved the spare wheel and the winch upright back, but still too close (the old jockey wheel winder handle cleared by 20mm which was a cunt) so I cut the top off the upright for clearance, trimmed off a few other bits of steel that didn't need to be there, and then made a new receiver (which is a bit yuck, and I'll redo again some day). Now everything has lots of clearance, and works much betterer. Then just a week of two ago, me and the lads went for a little pre season test boat. It was a lovely we outting, I didn't break anything, and I only hit like 4 rocks, and not very hard, so I'm getting better. The only pisser was, even though I spent ages jumping up and down on a big bar, trying to bend my ride plate back down, I failed to bend it back enough. I couldn't get much over 55kmh before it started porpoising and jumping completely out of the water, which sucked due to me having 100% throttle, and not being able to use it. I took off my last half assed effort of trying to fix this, and had another go. It seems to be bending the sides of the ride plate out, thus letting the plate come up, without the bottom of the plate bending (it's been dead flat all along) so I bolted some lengths of 50x6 angle to the sides of the plate so it can't bend, forced it down to level with the bottom of the boat, then bolted it to the stays. Hopefully this works. Neat. Regards, VG. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vintage Grumble Posted February 5, 2022 Author Share Posted February 5, 2022 "Hopefully this works." Turns out it didn't. Did a run with the lads at the start of Jan, and couldn't get much over 45ish kmh before it would start porpoising. I came to the conclusion it was the stretched UHMWPE, which had become wavey, which was causing the problem. I didn't want to put a new bit of UHMWPE on just yet, as it's boating season, and it's quite a lot of work (engine out, weld up holes, re drill/tap/bolt down etc) so decided I'd chuck more bolts into the high spots to pull them down. Due to access issues, I could only do the couple of bubbles right at the back, the rest is still wobbly AF. Had to slap a fair few bolts in, as plastic is so thin/bendy (it's meant to be 10/12mm thick, this is only 6mm) Worst bubble with just one bolt, it was about 20mm away from the hull, ended up with 3 more bolts in it. I also managed to get a few more degrees of downward tilt on the trim nozzle too, so have more range to play with now. ANYWAYS, took it to the harbour this arvo for a test run, and shit me sideways, no porpoising at all, totally flipping sweet. It's sort of blown my mind that two little humps in the plastic, right at the back of the hull, were making such a huge difference. Crazy. I forgot to take speedo phone so don't have a number, but it felt like it was going hunnitz. Fully stoked this repair worked! Regards, VG. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Vintage Grumble Posted November 9, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 9, 2022 Yoza, I hadn't used this little fulla for near on 6 months, so I got it out a few weekends back to give it a run. Went to start it, and it wouldn't turn over. I could just turn it over by hand (grabbing the drive coupling with my hand, so not a lot of grip) so assumed a tired battery or starter. Decided to whip the plugs out and see if it had the balls to turn over then. Unbeknownst to me, the oil tank had drained maybe 1 to 1.5L of oil into the engine, and when I cranked it, two geysers of oil shot amazingly high into the air. It spuewed oil alllll over the boat, my wife's car, up the front of my house, making it to the top of the second story even, and through the boat shed and surrounding area. It took close to 5 hours to clean that ecological disaster up, but I took the boat out for a test run after, and it ran fine, so no damage done. When I ran it a week later it was very smokey on start up, so oil is still leaking into the engine, so either my pump became sad while sitting, or the new oil I had just changed to on the last outting before the park up, is thinner and getting past the pump. More investigation needed. On Tuesday I decided I was going to go as far up the Whakatane river as I could. I went by myself which made things a bit spicy. We also had never gone past Ruatoki, apparently the locals can be very unwelcoming to jet boats/possible hunters. First bit of fun was the Rua bridge, it was like 99% blocked by trees from a recent flood. While stopped to assess a route, a dude popped out of the bushes behind me, and was adamant there was no way I would get through. I spied a gap just slightly wider than the boat, and about 100mm deep, so had a go and made it amazingly. It was like a war zone above that bridge, the flood had made a huge mess, so wild. Pic to break up huge sharn: I got stuck a few times on the way up, the last one on the upward leg was a doozy. I was looking for options, and there was none, so ended up in 50mm of water over sandy mud, and didn't complete the U-turn. I was a long way from floatable depth, so took as much out of and off of the boat as possible, and had to just he-man it out over about 30mins, I was so physically fucked after that. I was slightly worried as I was quite a long way out of cell coverage at that point too. Took a little vid of the scene after I got the boat to a start off-able depth: https://i.imgur.com/U5dAAz2.mp4 After reassembling the boat I set off down river, and after a couple of minutes made another error, and got very stuck again, in a real cunt of a spot. Got the boat floating, but the grate was so blocked I had no drive and the overheating alarm came on. I had to tie the boat to a tree, then dig a hole under the pickup so I could clear the grate. Laying in very cold fast moving water after doing a lot of physical effort was not fun. Got the grate clear, but I then couldn't pull the boat up stream to get to deep enough water to start off, so I had to start the boat next to myself while I walked it up stream to deeper water. Luckily I didn't let go of the boat and got out of that situation. The next situation was the river tricking me, and the deep water was on the inside of a corner, not the outside, causing me to run aground at decent speed. After he-maning the boat back to deeper water I set off right above a gnarly rapid/rock wall corner, to find my steering jammed full lock one way thanks to stones. I donuted into the wall, and after a lot of struggling managed to get to the side of the river and clear the stones. The last situation was I forgot about tides, and found a very long muddy gap between the boat and the trailer when I got back to town. I had to join the winch rope and bow rope and drag the boat across some real deep shit smelling mud, and ended with a really steep ascent onto the trailer. Made it 56km up river from the yacht club if that means anything to ya. So that was quite the adventure. Going solo really adds to the fun. TL:DR, I wish I had taken a GoPro. Regards, VG. 17 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted November 9, 2022 Share Posted November 9, 2022 Awesome! I want one of these bad now! (Slinks off to look at Trademe...) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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